The typical conventional bedpan, made of plastic or a coated metal, is rigid, and even though it is shaped to some extent to conform to the body, at best it is always uncomfortable. In many cases a rigid bedpan is painful, especially where the patient is thin or has bed sores, is bruised, or otherwise injured. In some cases, long term use of rigid bedpans will cause bed sores. Conventional bedpans, suffer from numerous drawbacks: they are uncomfortable and sometimes harmful to sit or lie on; the motion of getting on them can be both painful and injurious; the lifting requirements can be physically stressful if not impossible for attendants, particularly a home care-taker; and disposal of the contents is unpleasant and unsanitary.
If a patient is paralyzed, experiences pain on moving, or is simply weak, more than one attendant may be required to lift the patient's hips high enough to allow insertion of the bedpan under the buttocks. Alternatively, the attendants may turn him on his side before placing the bedpan and then rotate him back on to the bedpan. Either of these procedures may cause extreme discomfort, or even further injury to patients who have fractures of the spine, pelvis, hips or upper legs and being lifted can be excruciating for patients with bone cancer. The movement also can be harmful if the patient has internal injuries, which in an emergency room, may not yet have been identified.
Use of the rigid bedpan is also very demanding of the attendants, more than one of whom is often required. Because they must lean over the bed, back muscles are used and consequently must be exceptionally strong to avoid injury to the attendant. Patients who might otherwise be cared for at home are often placed in nursing homes because family members are unable to meet the lifting requirements. This alternative not only increases health care costs but is terribly demoralizing for both the patient and family.
Disposing of the waste in the conventional bedpan is aesthetically unpleasant, not only because of the sight and smell, but because flushing of the contaminated contents often results in splashing.
The significance of the problem is attested by the many patents on inflatable bedpans, the earliest, having been awarded in 1915. Many of these patents address primarily issues of comfort and reduced lifting. These include U.S. Pat. No. 1,132,056 to Wesley; 2,466,142 to Yost; 3,008,153 to Coulter; 3,464,066 to Marks; 3,628,197 to Leventhal; 3,848,274 To Oliver; 5,224,223 to Royal; and 3,609,771 to Avoy. The last also teaches a disposable waste collector, however the collector cannot be closed and exposes the attendant to its contents. Some address methods of inflation, including U.S. Pat. No. 3513488 to Oring, 3546717 and 3571654 to Kuhn. One, U.S. Pat. No. 2750600 to MacDonald, addresses not only the comfort and lifting issues but also waste evacuation via a tube; highly unsanitary by today's standards. Many teach bedpans which are totally disposable, and consequently more expensive. Examples are U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,663 to Scott; 3,605,128 to Odin; 4,437,195 to Mangels; 4,899,399 to Young; and 4,136,789 to Oberstein.
Conventional inflatable bedpans are relatively costly when the entire bedpan is disposable. In addition, the lack of ability to close or seal the waste collection container prior to removing the bedpan from beneath the patient results in an unsanitary operation.